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DWM Comics

Ophidius introduces us to Destrii, who will go on to become a companion for the Eighth Doctor down the road, but it’s also the first Doctor Who Magazine comic to be published in full colour, which would continue from then onwards, so once again this Audio / Comic Companion Debut Story has more of an impact than just the new companion. While Ophidius is the lengthier story, Beautiful Freak is perhaps one of the more well written and sombre stories in Doctor Who in general, so is definitely the star of this double bill. Let’s take a closer look, regardless…

Endgame is not just the debut for Izzy, but it’s the start of the Eighth Doctor’s great run in Doctor Who Magazine. As his Big Finish audio tenure went on the Doctor got more and more cynical and sarcastic, where as these comics have him just like in the TV movie: very excitable and funny. Izzy is a great companion too, a “nerdy” character within a very nerdy sci-fi series works great. So let’s take a look at Endgame (the story, not the whole Graphic novel…) and kick off the Eighth Doctor’s lengthy part in the Audio/Comic Companions Debut Marathon!

We reach the titular story of the Phantom Piper graphic novel, and the story doesn’t disappoint, well unless you’re not familiar with some past DWM stories, then it might… but I was fine! So let’s take a look at what the hell I’m going on about, shall we?

The Twelfth Doctor DWM comics continues with the old three-part strip followed by a single part adventure (with far worse artwork) that has become a common occurrence for these comics. Parliament of Fear was quite good, where as Matildus, even given its short length, was not as good… Want more detail?! Read on!

I start my read through of the collected Graphic Novel “The Phantom Piper” with, well, the first story in the collection! The Soul Garden is a fine story, full of nice dream-like imagery and good artwork, so it’s a nice way to kick off the final run of Twelfth Doctor DWM comic stories (though his actual final story is in a final GN out next year…) Let’s take a closer look!

In terms of companions created for the comics, you don’t get more well known or infamous than Frobisher. The shape shifting “Whifferdill” who ends up enjoying the form of a penguin is certainly amongst the most unique companions! It’s almost a shame that I like to do these comics in batches of two (when they’re not too long, anyway), because as note-worthy as Frobisher’s debut story is, Voyager is a comic masterpiece, full of amazing imagery, beautifully written prose and some great scenes and characters. I may be covering this double bill as part of the Audio/Comic Companions Debut marathon, but Voyager deserves the most attention! Let’s have a looksie, then!

The Audio/Comic companion debut marathon arrives at the only new companion for the Fourth Doctor (currently, a new one is set to debut for Big Finish next year!) in the form of Sharon, who also has the distinction of being the first black companion full stop. Plus as a bonus, we have Timeslip, which… well, is a short story that doesn’t do much, but I try to double up the comic strips to avoid over-cluttering the Doctor pages! Let’s have a look at these slices of 70s comic Who!

We end our run through the DWM graphic novel “Land of the Blind” with the titular story, as well as a single chapter bonus story (with Victoria and Daleks!), both from the 2nd Doctor era. Normally have two stories from two different TARDIS teams in one article would annoy me, but there will be so few Second Doctor DWM stories to list, it’s not going to hurt… Much. Anyway, how are the stories I hear you say? Well…

Change of Mind is two things, firstly it’s a Third Doctor comic, which is great as I love the era and this story has some nice artwork to go along with a good story, and secondly it takes place in between seasons 7 and 8 and featuring a post-UNIT Liz Shaw, which is a unique setting. Let’s see if… well, I’ve already said it’s a good story with nice artwork, but let’s take a closer look anyway!

Now here’s a rare thing: a First Doctor comic! Yes, I can’t imagine many more of these going up on the blog to be honest, he’s cameo’d and guest appeared in plenty, but very rarely had his own (apart from the TV Action! Comics from the 60s, but I don’t see them getting a physical release…) Anyway, Food For Thought is also an extremely early Nicholas Briggs script, though so early it doesn’t really have any of his hallmarks (good or bad) and instead is just a harmless little story. Let’s take a closer look.